" Birth is not just about making babies, its about making mothers strong, competent, capable mothers who trust themselves and know their inner strength" - Barbara Katz Rothman

Rosy was the doula for the delivery of our daughter in December 2014. Initially, I met Rosy through a prenatal yoga class that she was teaching at Namaste in West Berkeley (which I also highly recommend!). After talking to a few doulas, I was struck by Rosy's warm, genuine, and sweet nature, and my husband and I knew that she was just the calming presence we wanted. Throughout our pre-labor meetings and the labor itself, Rosy provided incredibly helpful information and maintained a completely non-judgmental attitude, supporting my husband and me in whatever decisions we made. We had our baby at Kaiser Oakland, which was overall a very positive experience. That being said, there was one individual on staff at Kaiser that was quite challenging to deal with. Rosy handled the situation beautifully - she calmed the situation instead of escalating, maintaining a positive environment and allowing my husband and me to keep our focus on laboring. In the end our delivery went well despite unanticipated complications. I am so grateful that Rosy was there with us to walk us through some tough decisions that we had to make during labor, and support us through the twists and turns of labor. I have nothing but positive things to say about our experience with Rosy, and recommend her without reservation to anyone looking for a birth doula.

Annie. T

Rosy was our doula for the birth of our first baby in May 2014. When I met Rosy I was immediately impressed by her warm and calm energy. I was really stressed and scared by my son's upcoming birth and Rosy always calmed me down whenever we met in person and through email and text messages. Rosy checked in on me frequently to make sure I was doing OK and always responded to any question I sent her within the hour. When my long and difficult labor started in the middle of the night, Rosy stayed up late to answer questions and then met us at the hospital at 5 in the morning. When I had to go home to wait things out, Rosy coached my husband to help me manage the pain by phone. Then when my labor quickly moved into transition and I had some unexpected challenges, Rosy kept me calm and kept my mother calm (my mother was also in the room during delivery). She was great at keeping my husband and mother calm enough so no one became too stressed out and everyone was supportive of each other and especially of me. I know it was really hard for my husband and mother to see me in pain and Rosy just knew how to be there for them at the right time in the right way. And of course she was amazing with me - whenever I needed a hand to grab, some ice, or some encouraging words, Rosy just seemed to anticipate it and she was right there. I would highly recommend Rosy to anyone considering a doula. My delivery ended up going well and the way I wanted in large part because I was surrounded by an incredible partner and some amazing women - including my wonderful doula Rosy.

Alexandra. F

I had my baby on June 3rd, 2014, and Rosy was my doula. She is an easy-going person with a big smile all the time, and have rich experience and skill which I believe can help the pregnant Mom a lot. Before delivery, we had two times of home visits. During these visits, she taught us many things about labor and delivery, helped us to prepare birth plan, and built the friendship with my family. Also she shared a lot of her experience with both me and my husband, like what my husband should do and say during the labor in order to comfort me as much as possible, how he can massage me to reduce the pain etc. On the big day, I couldn’t image what would happen without her. I went to the hospital in the evening and gave the birth in the next morning. Rosy accompanied us for the whole night. She helped me try different labor positions, how to use the birthing ball, did massage to relive my contraction pain, and kept breathing rhythm with me during contraction which is really useful. What’s more, she gave me a great of emotional support with her professional skills. At the moment I wanted to give up natural delivery and use epidural, she gave me hope and let me make it without using epidural. Also she helped us contact with our doctor and nurses, trying to bargain things with the doctor according to our birth plan. With her, we had a successful labor and delivery. Even after we came back from hospital, Rosy visited us again to check everything was OK and answer our postpartum questions, and gave me suggestions how to speed up the process of producing enough milk for the baby. So I highly recommend she to be your doula, especially if you want your baby’s birth as natural as possible with the least amount of medication.

Fan. L

Rosy Mulligan of Flowin’ Mamas (Rosy is newer to Oakland and has quite the story of how she found her calling to help mamas bring babies into the world. I instantly clicked with her grounded and sweet personality. Learning that she is a nature and yoga lover was simply a plus. Rosy was amazing in my long labor- offering many various comfort techniques/ideas, her calm encouraging voice (British accent was a plus), and her strong presence. Like the name of her business, she really does have the gift of ‘going with the flow.’ I am very grateful for her work!

Julia. T

When I found out I was pregnant, I knew I wanted to set the goal of achieving a natural birth for my daughter and myself. I didn’t know what to expect during labor, so my boyfriend and I both decided to seek extra support to deliver our first baby. I thankfully found Rosy and knew instantly during the initial interview that she was the best fit for me. She made me feel comfortable and confident that I would be in great care. I started labor at 11:00pm, five days before the due date, after taking our dog for a long walk. After a few hours I texted Rosy in the middle of the night to let her know I was in labor. She responded and kept in contact with me. Thanks to Rosy’s knowledge of laboring positions that we went over together during our second session, I was able to labor at home until the next morning on my own. We all headed to the hospital as a team around 12pm the next day. I was 7 cm dilated when I checked in. Having Rosy in the hospital room helped me to be confident in telling the nurses exactly what I wanted for my birth. Rosy was with me helping me breathe through every contraction and making sure I stayed hydrated through out the entire labor. When the day turned to evening, I started to get extremely tired and a little discouraged, thinking the baby would never arrive. Rosy helped me to stay motivated, even when I was at the point of giving in and wanting medication so I could rest. Rosy helped push me to keep going and suggested doing different positions and movements to help the baby descend faster. She was very supportive of me and encouraged me that the labor would soon be over. When I was lying in the hospital bed, I slept in-between contractions, every time I woke up Rosy was sitting right by my side to help me breathe through the next contraction. When it came time to push, Rosy coached me through it, and after a few pushes my body naturally did the pushing on it’s own. Before I knew it my baby girl was born. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget. I would not be able to picture Rosy not being there with me during labor and birth. She has this great energy and positive spirit that made the labor an intuitive and personal experience opposed to just being in a hospital room hooked up to machines. I would recommend her services to anyone wanting their birth to be a memorable event.

Elizabeth. W

Rosy was a fantastic doula. They say that births with a doula present are less likely to encounter interventions. I believe this to be true after birthing with Rosy present. I would not have been able to do it without her! Rosy helped me every step of the way- she came right when I called her, she timed my contractions, contacted my midwives when it was time for them to come, never hesitated, was always present, calm, composed and quick to respond when I needed help. Rosy helped me drink, eat, provided aromatherapy, administered herbs, controlled my TENS machine, massaged me, help me move about...She basically was the greatest support I could have ever asked for and she did everything without me having to ask. She intuitively knew what I needed and when. I truly believe our home birth went so successfully because Rosy were there. Rosy is a clear communicator and has a wonderful and calm demeanor. When I was scared Rosy was there to comfort me. She cheered me on and told me I was doing an amazing job when I was feeling discouraged, and when my daughter was finally born, after a FULL day of labor I was so touched by Rosy's dedication & resolve and so grateful that I had her support. I highly recommend Rosy as a doula, a friend and a great advocate during labor and birth. Thank you, Rosy, for all that you did for us, from the bottom of our hearts! We look forward to working with you in the future for postpartum doula services and writing you another stellar review for that!

Celine. H

Rosy was doula for the birth of our baby girl this spring. I found in Rosy much of the extra attention and thoughtfulness I was not finding in my monthly, biweekly and weekly checkups at the hospital and doctor visits. She empowered us with information during the pregnancy, exposed us to Hypnobabies method, which became our choice of birth method, and was an all around incredible resource for all our questions and concerns. The prenatal visits with her were fun. She is warm, perceptive, and has a wonderful sense of humor. She respected and anticipated all of our birth desires. She helped us to create and solidify a birth plan and we went into birthing time feeling confident and excited. All that said, I had my dream labor! natural, vaginal, intense, beautiful, meditative, (how can one event be so many things) with the most amazing birth team. Rosy was largely responsible for navigating all of this."

Jersey Walz & Eliot Kessel

When the dust settled a bit after the birth of our son, my wife and I said to each other - only half-jokingly - that Rosy's name belonged on his birth certificate along with ours. We will be forever grateful for the enormously important and unforgettable role she played in our birth story. We interviewed several doulas before deciding on Rosy. The decision was easy. From the moment we met her we were impressed with how knowledgable, open-minded and patient she was. She asked thoughtful questions that helped us to envision the sort of birth we hoped for and expanded our notions of what was possible. Our first meeting with Rosy was the first time during the pregnancy that I - the non-pregnant partner - felt truly included. She helped me to clarify my own sense of my role. Whenever we had questions in the weeks that followed - and we had a lot - Rosy responded promptly: offering insights from her own experience and pointing us toward accessible independent research. She respected the choices we made without imposing any agenda of her own, and made sure that she understood our values and priorities. She emboldened us to ask questions of our providers that we may have otherwise kept to ourselves. Asking these questions made it possible to achieve the birth we were hoping for - even in a large hospital setting. For example, our OB delayed cord-clamping at our request and allowed me to deliver our son (with help).

When my wife went into labor Rosy came right away. There was no real "early labor" in our case - so things got intense rather suddenly. Because Rosy had taken the time to cultivate a relationship with us ahead of time, we both felt an enormous wave of relief wash over us the moment she arrived. The labor lasted about 15 hours. It was the most intense and beautiful experience of our lives - and Rosy was right there for every moment of it. My wife doubted at many points that she would be able to go on without an epidural as she had hoped. At each crossroads Rosy encouraged her gently - giving her time and space to make her own decision without judgment or coercion. One hurdle at a time, Rosy coached us onwards. Rosy interfaced with medical staff, made sure that my wife stayed hydrated and kept her blood sugar up, encouraged my wife to try different positions/movements, prompted me when I was at a loss for how to help, and just took amazingly good care of us both through it all. When the big moment finally came, Rosy even managed to grab my camera with a spare hand and snap a few extraordinary photos which we will cherish forever!!The birth of our first child was everything we could have hoped for and more. That was due in no small part to Rosy Mulligan.

Selene, Drew & Beckett

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